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Recap / Star Wars: The Clone Wars S5E9 "A Necessary Bond"

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Choose your enemies wisely, as they might be your last hope.

While Ahsoka and the younglings are trying to escape the pursuing pirates, General Griveous arrives on Florrum to exact Dooku's revenge on Hondo for taking him prisoner and trying to ransom him out to the Republic...


Tropes:

  • Another Story for Another Time: At the end of the episode Huyang says that the last youngling who had such an adventure while crafting his first lightsaber was Yoda. Hearing this, the younglings immediately start to demand the story, but Obi-Wan puts them down, claiming that it will have to wait.
  • Badass Biker: Grievous engages Ahsoka while riding a combat speeder bike.
  • Call-Back:
    • Dooku orders Grievous to destroy Hondo's base and fleet and to arrest the pirates because he wants to have revenge for when they took him prisoner and attempted to ransom him to the Republic back in "Dooku Captured" and "The Gungan General".
    • The Slave I crashed on Florrum in "Lethal Trackdown", when Ahsoka damaged it to prevent Aurra Sing from escaping. In "Assassin", Aurra mentioned that Hondo pulled her out of the wreckage. Guess which ship Hondo uses to escape with his men and the younglings?
  • Call-Forward: The Slave I's new paintjob is the same one it has in The Empire Strikes Back. Also, see Dispense with the Pleasantries below, due to Darth Vader being the trope namer in Return of the Jedi.
  • Chain of People: Ganodi is able to hold Byph, Gungi, Zatt and Katooni for several minutes while they are hanging from the boarding ramp of a weaving starship, despite being the smallest and most frail of the younglings. She may be getting extra help from the Force...
  • Combat Pragmatist: Subverted; during his duel with Ahsoka, Grievous catches Ahsoka's head, using the toes of his legs, and slams her to the ground, instead of simply killing her while she's defenceless.
  • Conscience Makes You Go Back: Katooni guilt-trips Hondo into rescuing Ahsoka and the other younglings.
  • Cool Bike: Grievous rides a pretty badass-looking speeder bike while chasing Hondo and the younglings.
  • Dispense with the Pleasantries: Grievous declares this after getting fed up with Hondo's playing dumb.
    Hondo: What, may I ask, is the honour?
    Grievous: You can dispense with the pleasantries, pirate! This planet is now under Separatist control!
  • The Ditz: Hondo brings this out in full force, delighting in the circus in the previous episode and going giddy at the prospect of getting to see Katooni construct her lightsaber.
  • Enemy Mine: Ahsoka and the younglings form an alliance with Hondo's gang against Grievous' droid army.
  • Feet-First Introduction: As Ahsoka enters Hondo's cell, the camera first focuses on her boots (and the slain droids at her feet) then pans to her face.
  • Friend to All Children: He pretends to be a ruthless pirate, but Hondo can't help himself around children.
  • Motivational Lie: Hondo motivates Katooni to finish her lightsaber by framing it as payment for their escape from Florrum. Once she's succeeded, Ahsoka points out that he has no other choice but to ally with the Jedi to escape the Separatist army.
  • Noodle Incident: See Another Story for Another Time.
  • Odd Friendship: Hondo Ohnaka, an Affably Evil veteran pirate captain, and Katooni, a Jedi youngling.
  • Pet the Dog: Hondo's encouragement and awed reaction while Katooni puts her lightsaber together. He's correct in saying that it's something that has been rarely seen by non-Jedi, and it seems to have formed a (temporary?) bond between the pirate and the youngling.
  • Refuge in Audacity: Attempted by Hondo at the end of the episode. He not only frames his attack on the younglings' ship as a "rescue attempt", but tries to bill the Jedi for the damages he incurred in the process. Obi-Wan doesn't buy it for a second.
    Hondo: Oh, the thanklessness!
  • Run or Die: When cornered by Grievous, Ahsoka and the younglings prepare to fight, but in the last second Hondo and Katooni arrive with the Slave I to extract them. Ahsoka instructs the younglings to run, while she holds up Grievous. Once the younglings are safe, Ahsoka too abandons the fight, knowing that she has no chance of winning.
  • Sinister Scimitar: Hondo wields a vibro-scimitar against the droids.
  • Team Hand-Stack: A Jedi version involving lightsabers at the end of the episode. For extra symbolism points, there are eight lightsabers involved (the six younglings, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan), just as there are eight spokes on the symbol of the Galactic Republic, which also represents the unity of the galaxy through the Force.
  • We Need a Distraction: R2-D2 drives the tank Gwarm and his large comrade drove to pursue the Jedi back onto the base, and claims he captured it before getting into an argument with a battle droid; this allows the Jedi to sneak onto the base to rescue Hondo.
  • Would Hurt a Child:
    • Grievous is very eager to gets his hands on the younglings' newly crafted lightsabers, which means he is perfectly fine with killing them.
    • On the other hand, Hondo claims that he would rather the children not endanger themselves in battle, despite encouraging his men to kill the younglings a few episodes ago. Ahsoka lampshades this contradiction and Hondo's excuse is that his stance changes with his mood, with today being a day on which he likes children.
  • You Shall Not Pass!: Ahsoka holds up Grievous while the younglings escape onto Slave I, commandeered by Hondo.


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